281. The New Law: Grace, Justification, and Timing

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Essential Nature of the New Law #

• The New Law is principally (chiefly) the grace of the Holy Spirit given inwardly to believers
• Secondarily, it includes written documents, precepts, and sacramental observances that dispose men for grace or order its use
• This mirrors Aristotle’s principle from the Nicomachean Ethics (Book IX) that “each thing seems to be that which is in it most potent”
• The New Law is written on “fleshly tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3) rather than stone tablets
• Augustine’s distinction: the letter of the Old Law written outside man serves condemnation, while the New Testament offers “the administration of the spirit and of justice”

Justification Through the New Law #

• The New Law justifies by grace, not by external observance alone
• When objections claim the New Law doesn’t justify (because men still sin after receiving it), Thomas clarifies: grace aids men to avoid sin but does not render them incapable of sinning—that belongs to the state of glory
• Those who sin after receiving grace are more culpable because they are ungrateful for greater benefits
• The external precepts alone (the “letter”) do not justify; as Paul says, “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3)
• Even the letter of the gospel kills unless there is inner grace of faith to heal

Why the New Law Was Not Given from the Beginning: Three Reasons #

1. The Impediment of Sin Required Redemption First

• The grace of the Holy Spirit ought not be given abundantly before sin’s impediment is removed through Christ’s redemption
• John 7 supports this: “Not yet was the spirit given, because Christ not yet was glorified”
• Grace is gratuitous (freely given), not due as a matter of justice to those who have merited deprivation through sin

2. Perfection Through Temporal Succession

• Nothing is brought to perfection at once from its beginning but through temporal succession
• Analogy: just as a boy becomes a man, so the human race progressed from imperfection to perfection
• The Old Law served as a παιδαγωγός (pedagogue)—a slave who ensured children went to school and did not loiter—leading the human race to Christ
• Galatians 3 illustrates this: “The law was our pedagogue in Christ, that we might be justified from faith. But when faith comes, we are no longer under the pedagogue”

3. Man’s Recognition of His Own Infirmity and Need for Grace

• Man ought first to be left to himself under the Old Law, falling into sin
• Through recognizing his own weakness, he comes to recognize his need for grace
• Romans 5 shows this dynamic: “The law entered in that sin might abound, and where sin abounded, even more abounding would be grace”

Duration of the New Law to the End of the World #

Why No Further Status Will Succeed the New Law

• The status of the world can be varied according to diversity of law, and the New Law is the final law status
• The New Law succeeds the Old Law as the more perfect to the imperfect
• Nothing can be more perfect than what immediately introduces one to the last end
• The New Law leads immediately to beatitude: Hebrews passage cited—“Having faith in the entrance of the holy saints in the blood of Christ, which brought for us a new way”
• Therefore, no more perfect status of present life can succeed it

Rejection of an “Age of the Holy Spirit”

• Some heretics (Montanus, Priscilla; Manichaeus) claimed a future age of the Holy Spirit would surpass the apostolic age
• Augustine refutes this: the promise of the Holy Spirit was already completed in the apostles at Pentecost
• The apostles received “the first fruits of the Spirit” (Romans 8) more abundantly than subsequent saints
• Jesus promised baptism in the Holy Spirit “not many days” after the ascension—this occurred at Pentecost
• The Holy Spirit taught the apostles all truth necessary for salvation, not all future events (Acts 1: “It is not yours to know the times and the moments which the Father has laid down”)

Variation Within the New Law

• Though the New Law status will not change fundamentally, it is diversified according to different places, times, and persons
• Some possess the grace of the Holy Spirit more perfectly, others less perfectly
• But perfection cannot exceed what the apostles received

Key Arguments #

Objection 1: The New Law Doesn’t Justify (Because Not All Obey It) #

• Claim: Men do not always obey the gospel (Romans 10: “Not all obey the gospel”), so the New Law doesn’t justify
• Response: This objection concerns only the secondary aspects of the New Law (external precepts and documents), not its principal aspect (grace itself)
• The external letter without inner grace does not justify

Objection 2: The Old Law Also Came from God; How Is the New Law Different? #

• Claim: If God gave both laws and justification is His proper work, both laws should justify equally
• Response: God gave them differently: the Old Law written on stone tablets (external), the New Law written on “fleshly tables of the heart” (internal grace)
• Augustine’s distinction: the Old Law = letter serving damnation; the New Law = administration of spirit and justice
• Through the gift of the Spirit we work justice and are freed from damnation

Objection 3: Why Not Give the New Law from the Beginning? (God Desires All to Be Saved) #

• Claim: God wishes all to be saved (1 Timothy 2); diversity of places requires the gospel everywhere; therefore, diversity of times should require it everywhere in time
• Response: Diversity of places does not vary the human race’s status, but succession of time does
• Therefore: the New Law is proposed in all places but not in all times
• Analogy: though bodily salvation goods were provided from the beginning, spiritual salvation (grace) pertains to a later status after sin’s impediment is removed

Objection 4: Will the New Law Last Until the End? (The Perfect Will Displace the Imperfect) #

• Claim: 1 Corinthians 13 says when the perfect comes, the imperfect is done away; the New Law is ex parte (partial); therefore, a more perfect law should succeed it
• Response: This confuses two different statuses. There are three statuses:
  • Old Law status: figurale (figurative) and imperfect relative to the gospel
  • New Law status: figurale and imperfect relative to the fatherland (patria)
  • Status of fatherland (afterlife): not figurale; absolute perfection
  • The transition from Old to New Law is in this life; the transition from New Law to the fatherland is in the next life
  • We now see “through a mirror and enigma”; then we see “face to face” (1 Corinthians 13)

Objection 5: The Promise of All Truth Through the Holy Spirit (John 16) #

• Claim: Christ promises the Paraclete will teach disciples all truth; the Church doesn’t know all truth yet; so another status with fuller revelation is expected
• Response: The promise of the Holy Spirit’s teaching was fulfilled in the apostles, not reserved for a future age
• Augustine against the Montanists and Manichaeans: the promise was completed in the apostles
• The Holy Spirit teaches all truth necessary for salvation but not all future contingencies

Objection 6: Matthew 24—Gospel Preaching and the Consummation #

• Claim: Christ says the gospel will be preached to the whole world and then comes the consummation, but this hasn’t happened yet; so a future law must be coming
• Response: “Gospel preaching” can mean two things:
  1. Opening knowledge of Christ’s divinity and humanity—this was preached universally by the apostles (per Chrysostom), fulfilled by the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24 context)
  2. Preaching with full effect in each nation founding churches—not yet completed universally (per Augustine in Epistle to Hesychius), after which the consummation comes
  • Either way, no new law status is implied; only fuller fruition of the existing New Law

Important Definitions #

The Potissimum (Potent/Most Powerful Element) #

• What something most essentially is determined by what is most potent in it
• For the New Law, this is the grace of the Holy Spirit, not external precepts
• Principle from Aristotle (Ethics Book IX)

Law Written on the Heart vs. Stone #

• Old Law: written on stone tablets—external, written outside man
• New Law: written on “fleshly tables of the heart”—internal, inscribed through grace
• This is not merely metaphorical but describes the actual mode of operation

Grace as Law #

• The New Law is called the “law of faith” or “law of the spirit of life in Jesus Christ” (Romans 8)
• Grace is the presence of the Holy Spirit itself operating within the faithful
• Distinguished from natural law (also inscribed in human nature) by being added above human nature through supernatural gift

Παιδαγωγός (Pedagogue) #

• In ancient times, a slave who accompanied children to school and prevented them from loitering
• Used metaphorically for the Old Law as a tutor leading humanity to Christ
• Once faith comes (the New Law), the pedagogue is no longer needed

Figurale (Figurative Status) #

• Pertaining to figures or signs pointing to future realities
• The Old Law was figurale relative to the New Law (its ceremonies figured Christ)
• The New Law is figurale relative to the status of the fatherland (we see through types and enigmas)

The Status of the Fatherland (Patria) #

• The state of blessed union with God in the afterlife
• Distinguished from the status of the New Law (present life)
• In this status, the imperfect knowledge of the New Law is replaced by face-to-face vision

Examples & Illustrations #

The Boy Becoming a Man #

Just as a boy gradually develops into a man through natural succession, so the human race progressed from the imperfect state under the Old Law to the perfect state under the New Law. This temporal development is necessary for full maturation.

Recognizing Infirmity: The Abortion Clinic Worker #

Berquist recounts a story of a woman working in an abortion clinic who gradually recognized the evil of her work when she witnessed the casual brutality of the doctor (“Go on, go on, next one”) and saw the suffering patient. This illustrates how experience of evil and recognition of one’s complicity leads to recognition of the need for grace and redemption.

The Three States and Historical Parallels #

• Reading world history: understanding how different statuses of mankind unfold through time
• The pedagogical role of the Old Law parallels how institutions must gradually teach societies

Notable Quotes #

“Each thing seems to be that which is in it most potent, as the philosopher says in the ninth book of the Ethics. That which is potissimum, most potent in the law of the New Testament, and in which its whole power consists, is the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is given by faith in Christ.” — Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, Q. 106, A. 1

“The law of the spirit of life in Jesus Christ frees me from the law of sin and death.” — Romans 8 (quoted by Thomas)

“The letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” — 2 Corinthians 3 (quoted by Thomas)

“Not yet was the spirit given, because Christ not yet was glorified.” — John 7 (quoted by Thomas)

“The law was our pedagogue in Christ, that we might be justified from faith. But when faith comes, we are no longer under the pedagogue.” — Galatians 3 (quoted by Thomas)

“The law entered in that sin might abound, and where sin abounded, even more abounding would be grace.” — Romans 5 (quoted by Thomas)

“That the letter of the gospel kills unless there be within the grace of faith healing.” — Thomas Aquinas, explanation of 2 Corinthians 3

“In the writings of the gospel are not contained except those things which pertain to the grace of the Holy Spirit, either as disposing for it, or as ordered to the use of this grace.” — Thomas Aquinas

Questions Addressed #

Is the New Law Principally a Written Law? #

Answer: No. Principally, it is the grace of the Holy Spirit inscribed in hearts. Secondarily, it includes written documents and precepts that dispose men for grace or order its use.

Does the New Law Justify? #

Answer: Yes, through the grace of the Holy Spirit. The external precepts alone do not justify (like the Old Law), but the grace they dispose one to receive does justify.

Why Was the New Law Not Given from the Beginning of the World? #

Answer: Three reasons: (1) sin’s impediment needed removal through Christ’s redemption; (2) perfection develops through temporal succession, not all at once; (3) man needed to recognize his infirmity and need for grace.

Will the New Law Endure Until the End of the World? #

Answer: Yes. No more perfect status of the present life can succeed it, for the New Law immediately introduces one to the last end (beatitude). Only the afterlife status surpasses it.

Should We Expect a Future “Age of the Holy Spirit”? #

Answer: No. The Holy Spirit was fully given at Pentecost to the apostles, who received the first fruits abundantly. Augustine refutes Montanist and Manichaean heresies on this point. The promise of all necessary truth was already fulfilled.